After fire killed Georgetown University senior Daniel Rigby in a basement furnace room that he rented as a bedroom, Washington, D.C., inspectors found 10 safety code violations in the row house.Their citations ranged from too much junk to blocked exits. Such safety problems are common in fires that kill college students.
College and government officials are turning their attention to fire safety.
University of Dayton senior and football player Austin Cohen had been drinking. But he stopped and went to bed early one December night six years ago. The next day was important: His older brother Dustin, then a linebacker for the St. Louis Rams, was to play in a televised NFL game. One of his housemates, a close friend, was trying to impress some girls by setting paper towels on fire on the stairs leading to the upper floors.What was meant as a prank quickly became a full-blown fire.
It is two weeks before classes begin at UW-Madison and I’m nowhere near campus. I’m sitting in the living room of my parents’ new house in Pensacola, Fla., decompressing from a summer spent working in “the real world.” In the meantime, I’ve been given a story assignment that involves imparting wisdom to a group of college freshmen who are only two or three years my junior.
Madison, Wis. – Three years ago, entrepreneurs Nathan Lustig and John Tucker were still in high school, blissfully unconcerned with the oft-criticized textbook exchange at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
MADISON, Wis. — A trio of University of Wisconsin-Madison students said they will try to enlist in the military and not hide the fact they are openly gay.
Derek House and two others said they want to serve their country but want to challenge the 13-year-old Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.
In a sharp about-face, the students who were threatening to move Halloween to Langdon Street are now backing Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s plan to charge admission to the annual State Street celebration.
“We’ve begun working with the city now and we’re trying to evolve State Street into an event the students can take ownership in and be happy with,” Tom Wangard said this morning in a telephone interview.
Megan Twohey of the Journal Sentinel staff asked five sophomores from Wisconsin colleges to offer incoming freshmen advice that they won’t get from guidebooks, parents or freshman orientation. Here’s what they had to say:
For the 30 years I’ve lived in Madison, it’s been a Wonderland, from the riot of sudden spring bloom to the lingering whiteness of winter snow.
But right now I feel like Alice must have felt in her Wonderland. The most uniquely Madisonian day of the year, Halloween, has turned into a nightmare, and instead of facing it head-on, we seem to have settled for “Off with her head!”
Bartenders and pizza makers aren’t the only ones eager to separate students from their money as Madison colleges and universities resume classes for the fall semester.
When Rachel Hanson needs to check the bus schedule, grades or dining hall menu, the sophomore at Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., reaches for her cellphone. And when Maria Emerson needs to find washing machines for four loads of laundry, the junior at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh heads for her laptop.They are among a generation of college students that is increasingly reliant on new technologies and Internet services to stay socially and academically connected. And from late-night snacks to listening to lectures, colleges and universities are modernizing to make a student’s every need available online.
DURHAM, N.C. – Freshman John Kunemund knows that life on campus at Duke University will include being exposed to alcohol ââ?¬â? whether or not he is the one doing the drinking.
Christmas came early in Madison the weekend of Aug. 12-13.
As college students at UW-Madison scrambled to beat lease expirations, the terraces in front of apartment buildings became treasure troves for the thrifty.
(MADISON) Madison Police say campus safety measures will be even more crucial this year. Public information officer Mike Hanson says the string of assaults in the downtown Madison area does raise safety concerns with thousands of UW-Madison freshmen moving in next week. He says Madison Police will be involved with educating these freshmen, as well as students in general, about how to keep themselves safe.
The man who followed a UW student , through a propped open door, into her Langdon Street apartment building early Wednesday morning did not rob her. Madison Police say they believe his intent was sexual assault. The victim screamed, fought and got away, but not before he punched her 8-10 times in the face.
For college students who wanted another level of protection against getting pregnant, the Food and Drug Administration�s decision last week to allow women 18 and older to buy the emergency contraceptive drug Plan B without a prescription came as welcome news. The risk of pregnancy can be lowered by up to 89 percent when a woman takes Plan B within 72 hours after unprotected sex. The drug has no effect if the woman is already pregnant.
She isn’t making any bold predictions, but Jennifer Knox is feeling more and more confident that Wisconsin voters on Nov. 7 will reject a constitutional amendment that would ban civil unions and marriages for gay families in the state.
Yes, the 21-year-old UW-Madison senior is aware that a recent statewide poll showed that 48 percent of likely voters favor the ban, while 40 percent oppose it and 12 percent are undecided.
Mike Zakarian is president of the student government at Emmanuel College and co-captain of the baseball team. He hopes to go to graduate school in education. But he’s also a whiz at online poker. He’s so good that, at age 21, he won $12,000 and a seat at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, where last month he took home $15,500 more.
With the controversy that led up to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of over-the-counter sales of Plan B to adult women, it’s no surprise that Thursday’s decision prompted a mixed reaction from those in Wisconsin.
After a series of violent attacks and robberies on Madison streets over the summer, students starting a new semester at U-W Madison are being urged to take the issue of personal safety more seriously than ever.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. ââ?¬â? Why do college students seem allergic to intellectual debate? Why do they all seem to run away the instant class ends? Do they date? And did the dog really eat the homework?
As these judgments masquerading as questions began striking Cathy A. Small, an anthropology professor, she realized that she had heard similar ones as a student 30 years earlier.
27 News has learned Madison police officials are expected to release a composite sketch of a suspect in the vicious beating of a UW-Madison student in her Langdon Street apartment building.
Authorities have described the suspect as Caucasian, about 30, 6’2”, thinly built with shoulder length hair.
A family from the Town of Windsor is on a mission to set up a house at the UW Madison campus for young college men addicted to drugs or alcohol.
The house is in memory of their teenage son Aaron Meyer.
A UW-Madison student was beaten early Wednesday in a bizarre and apparently random attack by a stranger inside her apartment building.
The 20-year-old woman told police she was walking home alone in the 100 block of Langdon Street about 1:15 a.m. when she noticed a man watching her. She said she initially avoided the person by crossing the street to a better lighted area and then visiting a friend’s apartment.
As college students across the country return to campuses over the next few weeks, more and more will be moving into church-sponsored dorms — a trend that can trace its roots to the corner of College Avenue and Bancroft Way in Berkeley.
(UNDATED) Three schools in the University of Wisconsin System have been recognized as top places for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. Madison, La Crosse and Milwaukee all made the list, which included a general listing of schools as well as a top 20 ranking.
The 100-school list was published in the book “The Advocate College Guide For LGBT Students,” which came out in August. Erik Trekell is the director of the LGBT Campus Center for UW-Madison. He says Madison was very close to making the top 20 campus ranking, which contained five other Big Ten schools. (Third item.)
Madison: A 20 year old UW student was attacked and beaten early Wednesday morning in her Langdon street apartment building.
This latest attack comes as more students move back to campus for the start of classes.
MADISON, Wis. — Madison police are investigating a violent early-morning incident that occurred along Langdon Street.
Authorities said a 20-year-old woman was followed into her apartment complex in the 100 block of Langdon Street at about 2 a.m. Wednesday.
Dywon Rowan’s guiding light, and spiritual inspiration, takes the physical form of a tattoo on the left arm of the University of Wisconsin tailback. “When I get down, I look at my tat and this keeps me going,” said Rowan, pointing to the Bible verse Psalms 25:4.
Show me your ways.
UW-Madison was chosen as one of the 100 best campuses for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students by a new guide for LGBT students.
“The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students,” released Aug. 1, rated campuses on a 20-point checklist.
It’s not uncommon for members of the University of Wisconsin football team to have text messages waiting for them after practice, but the ones on Jarvis Minton’s cell phone read a little different than those of his teammates.
On any given day, Minton might push a button and be greeted with a mini-grocery list.
Jarvis, can you pick up some milk? Did you get J.J. his diapers? Can you stop and get some more pacifiers?
Chin up, UW. You may not be the nation’s top party school, but you can drown your disappointment in beer.
UW-Madison got knocked off the top of this year’s Princeton Review list of party schools, coming in a mere fourth, but took first place for beer drinking, knocking Indiana University from the foamy pedestal.
MADISON, Wis. — It may have dropped on the list of party schools but the UW is taking honors for its diversity.
The UW Madison has been recognized as among the top schools in the country for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.
MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Madison is no longer the country’s best party school — at least according to the Princeton Review survey.
After a year as the reigning champ of campus revelry, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has dropped to fourth place among the nation’s top 10 party schools. [Fifth item in Regional Briefs.]
The University of Texas-Austin has claimed the title as the nation’s best party school, according to a ranking out Monday. It edged out last year’s winner, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for the top spot in the Princeton Review survey of 115,000 students at campuses around the country. UT-Austin topped the overall list by ranking second in the use of hard liquor, third in beer drinking and 13th in marijuana smoking. University spokesman Don Hale said campus leaders do not take such rankings seriously.
“Counter the Nazis or ignore them?” the headline asks about the American Nazis’ rally Saturday in Madison.
There could be some very teachable moments in showing up at the Square with your children to watch the spectacle.
….Yes, people should go. It would be a shame if the only protesters were the UW College Republicans, that small but brave band that comes out to defend American values whenever they’re threatened by the likes of Michael Moore and George Galloway.
I know, school’s out, but when duty calls, anti-Hitler youth will answer.
By Bill Dunn
George Dreckmann is the recycling coordinator for the Madison Streets & Recycling Department, as well as the administrator of the Madison Stuff Exchange. Well-known for his gregarious personality and his commitment to salvaging all that is reusable, Dreckmann marshals the city’s forces every August to tackle the more than 1.6 million pounds of garbage that piles up every moving day.
MADISON, Wis. — It’s been a rough summer for the Cows On Parade in Madison.
At least 20 cows have been vandalized since the parade started in June.
University of Wisconsin sophomore linebacker Jonathan Casillas wasn’t sure where he would be without “it.” Redshirt freshman tailback Jerry Butler felt the same way – uncertain what path he might have taken without “it.”
Both have clearly benefited from “it” putting them in a special category of over 150 current Division I-A football players who have taken advantage of the mentoring that “it” has provided in making the transition, academically and athletically, from high school to college.
Garrett Suter has come to terms with the fact that he won’t play hockey for the University of Wisconsin this season.
That acceptance wasn’t immediate. When he learned a while back that his appeal to be accepted into school was denied, he was upset and even thought – albeit briefly – about looking elsewhere for a college at which to play.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has a new freshman-level computer science program aimed at enticing women to become computer scientists.
The Wisconsin Emerging Scholars in Computer Science was created by Professor Susan Horwitz, with initial grant support from the Microsoft Corp. Now, with National Science Foundation backing, the program is combining two core strategies: direct recruitment of new freshman students from underrepresented groups and parallel team-learning techniques.
It is knowledge even straight-A students often lack: how to handle money…and debt. According to Michael Gutter, UW Extension Financial Specialist, “While college students are doing pretty well, they’re increasingly having more student loan and credit card debt and they’re not necessarily well-equipped to mange this.”
While states focus on soaring college textbook costs students, faculty and publishers also are taking action. USA TODAY’s Mary Beth Marklein and Beth Walton look at local efforts.
As demand for low-cost textbooks increases, college administrators, bookstores and faculty have been forced to re-examine how their students get books.
Apparently it’s not enough to live through the annual indignity of college town life: The week the new students arrive, and they’re all younger, smarter and prettier than they were a year ago.
(You, of course, don’t age. They just get younger.)
But now there’s a new humiliation: Dorm envy.
Think I’m kidding? Then you weren’t one of the 600 or so people who filed through Newell J. Smith Hall during Tuesday’s open house.
With so many students returning or new to campus this week, police want to get the word out about crimes that have been occurring in the downtown area over the summer.
UW officials have teamed up with Madison police to issue safety reminders.
For the first time since the 1960’s, there’s a new dorm on the UW campus. And in just a few weeks, students will be calling it home.
On the outside, it’s hard to believe that this modern looking structure is a UW residence hall. Inside — it’s definitely not what many would call normal dorm life.
“This is the first major residence hall since Ogg was built in 1965,” said Paul Evans, Director of University Housing.
MADISON, Wis. — Some lucky freshmen on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus will have a new state-of-the art dorm to call home this fall.
Dear Editor: Excellent article on Union South in Friday’s Capital Times. For those of us who work there, it was nice to hear the latest news about the future plans for this site.
The Wisconsin Union did a student survey three years ago to ask for input from the students about what they thought of the current Union South. The result was an opinion that the current building was cold, sterile and needed “more wood, more marble flooring and higher ceilings.” And a coffee shop, “like Starbucks.” The only thing they left out were crystal chandeliers. And they want someone else to pay for it.
Isn’t this indicative of society as well? We want first-rate schools for our kids, excellent roads for our SUVs, 75 cent-a-gallon gasoline. We just want someone else paying for it.
It started off slowly, a few cars lining the streets and small piles of used items covering street corners as students moved their belongings over the weekend.
On Monday, the chaos was no longer controlled as furniture piles grew higher, traffic grew heavier and the most common sight was students sitting on the steps of vacant apartments with blank stares. It was the final day for most Downtown tenants to move from one property to the next.
For Jeremy Kleier, a UW- Madison junior and recent 400 block West Mifflin Street resident, the day was carefree. As students rushed to clean out their former properties, Kleier relaxed on a couch outside his new home.
The scene outside a pink brick house on Gorhman St. was a common one Monday afternoon near the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A wooden futon was perched on the front lawn, buried under piles of boxes and dishes. Bunk bed frames rested against the front porch. Garbage bags overflowing with clothes were strewn amid lamps naked of their shades.
It’s a busy week for UW-Madison students as they get ready to pack up and move out.
Some have already begun the process, while others plan on making the move later this week.
Admistrators at UW Madison says their message of personal safety is not getting through to students. That’s a concern given the recent rash of violence on King Street, and several muggings downtwn.
MADISON, Wis. — With the start of the school year rapidly approaching, University of Wisconsin and Madison police are finalizing plans to protect students from the recent surge in downtown violence.
Eviscerated sofas, cracked bookshelves, dirty mattresses and bags of trash lined the streets of Madison on Moving Day today as thousands of students deal with moving companies and being temporarily without a home.
“The worst thing is being homeless for a day,” said Tony Fischer, who was using his parents’ minivan to move from his Mifflin Street house with his roommate Lucas Brasig. Their lease, like hundreds of others near the University of Wisconsin campus, expires today.
A fact has landed in the mind of Antonio Rodriguez, 16, and blown it wide open. The bombshell: His formal education doesn’t have to end with high school.
Rodriguez sits among five high school students, all seniors this September, who share their awakening about college with grown-ups – philanthropists, educators, elected officials, agency heads and others – as part of a wild, neat, multifaceted program dubbed College Summit.
And so it begins . . . at least for some.
Pickup trucks and moving vans dominate Downtown and campus traffic, exhausted parents catch their breath next to a U-Haul trailer, old cabinets and mattresses occupy street corners. Some cars are so jam- packed, the only thing visible to passers-by is the driver’s seat through the windshield.
While it was only Friday, moving day was in full swing as Madison students and recent graduates made the switch from one residence to the next.
Those of you who haven’t checked the calendar may not realize that Madison’s biggest holiday is at hand.
Yes, I’m talking about Aug. 15 – Move Out Day, also known as Hippie Christmas and Trash-Picker Paradise.
It’s the day when the renters of Madison fling open their doors and throw their belongings onto the curb, so as not to have to transport them to their new place. It’s a messy, festive affair that is one of my favorite events of the year.
MADISON, Wis. — Madison city crews will start collecting trash at 4 a.m. Monday.
Students can make the job a little easier by putting recyclables in the green cart provided, or a clear bag.
If residen
